A report in a 1903 edition of the Los Angeles Times stated that Baldwin sought incorporation of his Arcadia township to avoid paying road and school taxes. Funds from fines, fees and licenses supported the city financially in the beginning.
The first ordinance passed was to approve the sale of alcoholic beverages. A liquor license cost $40 a month. A peddler’s license cost $10 a month. There were fines for destroying trees, for leaving horses unhitched for more than five minutes and for drunkenness, and other disturbances. A building ordinance required a permit and a fee of $1 for new buildings or for alterations exceeding $25.
A year after incorporation, Arcadia approved its first assessment roll; tax levy assessments totaled $360,000, and the tax rate was sixty cents per hundred dollars. Arcadia had a tax revenue of about $2,100 on which to operate during the 1904 year. In 1908 the city treasury had $1,632.71.
Since Arcadia did not have a bank in 1903, city funds were deposited in a Monrovia bank. The First National Bank of Arcadia was established on the southeast corner of First Avenue and St. Joseph Street in 1917. The city didn’t trust the bank’s safety until 1922 and that is when city funds were transferred to it from Monrovia.
We hope you enjoy our Historical Tid Bits about Arcadia, CA
Carol Libby and Karen Hou
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